Netropsin (Net)

Netropsin is an oligopeptide with antibiotic and antiviral activity.Netropsin was discovered by Finlay et al. and first isolated from the actinobacterium Streptomyces netropsis. It belongs to the class of pyrrole-amidine antibiotics. Synonyms for the compound are congocidine and sinanomycin. Netropsin binds to the minor groove of AT-rich sequences of double stranded DNA. In contrast, Netropsin does not bind single stranded DNA or double stranded RNA. Crystallographic structures of DNA-bound Netropsin have been obtained and elucidate details of how the drug binds in the minor groove. In the bound structure, the drug makes hydrogen bonding interactions with four subsequent base pairs of the DNA duplex, locally displacing the water molecules of the spine of hydration.Netropsin bound to DNA. Image was created from the crystallographic structure using the software VMD.